Are You Still Willing to Have Cubs With You? (Continued)

The Eldest Cub frowned. "Two years old, very young."

The three children received a dual education, one educated in mutated monster culture and the other in human civilization. However, regardless of the former or the latter, their primary teacher was Tao Qiu.

In Tao Qiu's view, he equates two-year-old bird chicks with two-year-old human children, believing that they still need adults to protect them for many more years.

Even though he was considered grown up at the age of two as Snow Bird and had to leave his parents' nest to survive on his own, he endured countless hardships and nearly lost his life several times before finally establishing himself at the age of ten.

Yet he never considered kicking the children out of the house early; in fact, he was willing to support them for life, until his own death.

Just like in human society, some children, even before they're tall enough to reach the stove, have to stand on stools to cook for the whole family, while others, even as adults, have never boiled a kettle of water themselves.

Tao Qiu wouldn't spoil her children excessively, turning them into good-for-nothings, but she also wouldn't force them to grow up at an inappropriate time.

He put this philosophy into practice in his daily life, so his children, like him, all felt that two-year-olds were still babies and couldn't possibly go out and survive on their own.

Moreover, even though Tao Qiu said it was a tradition of the Snow Bird clan, the three of them never doubted whether Tao Qiu would do the same for them, because Tao Qiu's love gave them enough confidence and a sense of security.

Tao Qiu said, "Before the mutation, most animals didn't have long lifespans; two years old was indeed considered adulthood. But after the mutation, most of these animals can live as long as humans or even surpass them. In fact, the old traditions are no longer suitable for this era. It's just that my parents, or most of the Snow Bird besides me, never thought of changing it."

The Third Cub asked, puzzled, "Chirp, chirp?"

--Are mutated monsters all smarter than ordinary animals? Why didn't you think of that?

Tao Qiu's laughter carried a hint of helplessness. "Whether you want it or not is one thing, whether you're willing to change it is another."

Tao Qiu's eyes and tone were filled with such intense sadness that they were almost overflowing. Second Cub climbed onto his lap, hugged his head, and gently patted his back, softly comforting him, "Papa! Don't cry, baby, I love you."

The Eldest Cub jumped off the stone bench, ran over, and took Tao Qiu's hand. "I'll never leave, Daddy."

Tao Qiu lifted his head from Third Cub's arms, his eyes red-rimmed but without tears. A calm smile played on his lips. "My childhood was so miserable; thinking about it does make me sad. But now that I have you all, happiness will only increase, squeezing out the sadness."

Let the suffering he endured end in his generation; may his children live healthy and happy lives.

Second Cub leaned over and planted a kiss on Tao Qiu's cheek, his smile warm, "For Papa, may you have lots of happiness."

Tao Qiu returned the kiss? She smiled, her eyes crinkling. "Yes, thank you, Xuexue. Dad feels a little less sad now."

Upon hearing this, the Eldest Cub and Third Cub eagerly came over to give their father kisses, wanting to help him drive away all his sadness.

Tao Qiu hugged them, leaned forward, and let each of the boys kiss his face; he returned the kisses.

The family of four cuddled together until dinner time. Before bed, after listening to Tao Qiu's story, they didn't forget to add a goodnight kiss.

The Second Cub smiled and said, "Papa, I love you in my dreams too."

Tao Qiu's eyes softened as she gently smoothed Second Cub's hair. "Okay, Daddy will love you in my dreams too."

After a good night's sleep, Tao Qiu was the first to wake up again this morning.

After washing up, he made breakfast, cutting fruit on the table with his back to the bed. As he put the fruit into the bowl, he suddenly felt a gaze watching him from behind.

Turning his head, he saw the Eldest Cub lying by the nest, its eyes wide open, staring at him.

After meeting Tao Qiu's gaze, the Eldest Cub grinned and reached out his little hand to Tao Qiu.

Tao Qiu went over and picked him up. The Eldest Cub nestled on his shoulder, whispering softly, his voice filled with obvious joy, as if sharing a little secret with Tao Qiu, "Daddy, you're in my dreams."

Tao Qiu smiled, "So what did I do in Momo's dream? Huh?"

The Eldest Cub said, "Daddy, beat the bad guys, I'll help Daddy."

Wow, we won in the end?

"We won? You little rascal Feifei, it's me, Dad, and Xiaoxiao."

"As expected of the two of us, we're incredibly powerful both in dreams and in reality."

"Hehe, we're awesome!"

The Eldest Cub nuzzled Tao Qiu's neck, grinning to reveal a few pearly white baby teeth.

After the Eldest Cub finished washing up, Tao Qiu prepared breakfast, and the Second Cub and Third Cub also woke up.

It was still fairly cool in the morning, and we were all quite hungry after a night's sleep, so Tao Qiu made some meat pies. He and his three kids ate quite a lot.

"Hiccup~"

Second Cub patted his full tummy and, with a burst of imagination, said, "Chubby, like... a big fruit."

The Eldest Cub said, "It also looks like a soccer ball."

The Third Cub said, "Like balloons, or... four?"

Tao Qiu, who was clearing the dishes, chuckled and chimed in, "What if it's a balloon? We can't go outside! What if the wind blows it away?"

The kids imagined the scene based on their father's description and couldn't help but giggle.

Second Cub: "Float, high!"

Eldest Cub: "Daddy, you can fly! Save us!"

The Third Cub: "Daddy flew away too?!"

Tao Qiu said, "Let's all drift to the ends of the earth and eat coconuts."

Second Cub: "What's a coconut? Is it tasty?"

Tao Qiu told them what a coconut is, what it looks like, and what it tastes like.

The Second Cub drooled, "Sweet porridge."

The Eldest Cub asked, "Is the ends of the earth far?"

"It's far away. Dad doesn't know which direction it is right now. Maybe he'll find out later. There will still be a chance to go and play."

Third Cub: "Hey guys, let's go get some coconuts!"

The Second Cub cheered, "Yay! Delicious, yay!"

The children were so happy they danced around, as if they were about to eat it!

Once the kids calmed down from their coconut frenzy, Tao Qiu began to discuss with them how to tell Black Rabbit that there were actually three kids and that their whole family could transform into human form.

The family of four had their eyes darting around, their minds brimming with clever ideas.

The Eldest Cub said, "We'll do it this way!"

"What? What?"

Four heads huddled together, and even though there was no one else around, they still kept their chirping soft.

The main focus is on creating a certain atmosphere.

Black Rabbit brought not only flowers today, but also a whole prey. He was afraid the Xiao Xue's blood would stain him and make him smell bad, so he captured it alive.

The prey was trembling, its eyes rolled back, clearly terrified.

When Black Rabbit arrived, only Tao Qiu was there to greet him at the door.

Black Rabbit followed him inside, placed the flowers and prey on the ground, looked around, but didn't see the Xiao Xue snowbird.

"Roar?"

Where's your baby bird?

Tao Qiu looked at the Black Rabbit, took a step back, and chirped twice at it.

--Yuan Yuanyuan, come down.

Before he could finish speaking, the Third Cub jumped down from the cave platform and flew around Tao Qiu.

Just as Black Rabbit was about to greet the Xiao Xue snowbird, Tao Qiu spoke up, "Chirp, chirp."

--Bro, have you thought this through?

"Roar..."

Black Rabbit stopped mid-question, because he thought he might be hallucinating.

Otherwise, how could he explain the Snow Bird in front of him not only slowly shrinking, but also twisting and deforming at an extremely fast speed? Almost in the blink of an eye, the Snow Bird disappeared, and a human man with long white hair appeared before him.

Black Rabbit's eyes widened, and he caught his breath halfway through, neither able to finish.

What happened next was even more eye-catching for Black Rabbit. The human reached out his hand, and the little bird flew over, its body changing as it flew.

With a "thud," a human cub fell into the long-haired man's hands and was pulled into his arms.

The most terrifying thing was yet to come: the long-haired man and the cub both looked at him at the same time, their eyes, one green and one purple, exuding an indescribable eeriness.

The long-haired man opened his mouth, but what came out was a bird song that Black Rabbit was familiar with.

"Chirp, chirp."

--Brother, do you recognize me?

The cub in his arms waved its chubby little hand at him, its voice soft and sweet. "Black Rabbit, Uncle."

"Black Rabbit, Uncle!" Two other voices came from above.

Black Rabbit stiffly looked up and saw two human cubs sticking their little heads out from above the cave platform, giving him big smiles.

Black Rabbit finally caught his breath.

"Roar!!!"

A terrified roar echoed through the valley, startling a mutated monster that happened to be passing by.

It looked up and glanced in the direction of the valley, then inexplicably sensed danger and quickly tucked its tail between its legs and ran away.

Half an hour later.

Black Rabbit looked at the Snow Bird family sitting on the grass, their heads tilted back, smiling innocently at him. The fear in his eyes had not yet faded, and his voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"Roar..."

--You mean, after you ate that glowing fruit, you gained the ability to transform into human form, and your three children inherited this ability from you?

Tao Qiu nodded. "Chirp, chirp."

--Yes, that's it.

Black Rabbit looked at the Xiao Xue snowbird that had transformed into a human-like baby. The Xiao Xue snowbird squinted at him and grinned, babbling in a language he couldn't understand.

Has Black Rabbit softened a bit? What should I do? She seems quite cute.

Looking at the Snow Bird again, Black Rabbit felt like she understood? What?

"Roar?"

--At first, you didn't want me to take care of the baby birds because you were afraid I'd discover your secret of being able to transform into human form?